Faculty members from across the university form our Academic Advisory, a committee that shares ideas, advice and connections to help guide and champion the Learning Exchange’s work.
Alison Taylor
Professor, Educational Studies, Faculty of Education
Alison Taylor is committed to providing community-engaged learning opportunities for students in her graduate and undergraduate teaching. Prior to coming to UBC in 2015, she was the Academic Director of Community-Service Learning at the University of Alberta from 2012-2014.
Her research program examines youth perceptions and experiences of the relationship between education and the labour market. She explores a wide range of school-work transitions, including youth apprenticeship, community-engaged learning in universities, and university students and term-time work. Representative publications include two books: “Juggling rhythms: Working student-life in the 21st century” (2025, Brill) and “Vocational Education in Canada” (2015, Oxford), as well as the article “Community-University Engagement: From Chasm to Chiasm” (2020, Educational Studies journal).
She led a TLEF project between 2017-2019, “The Learning Exchange as a hub of experiential learning,” which included the creation of the “Roots to Partnership” blog.
Website: http://edst.educ.ubc.ca/facultystaff/alison-taylor/
Andi Binet
Assistant Professor, Community-Engaged Research, School of Community and Regional Planning
Andi Binet is an Assistant Professor at the School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC.
Across their research and teaching, Andi is especially interested in understanding how urban environments shape our health and the relationships of care that sustain us, and how social and community planning can be tools for responding to the contemporary crisis of care and achieving health equity.
They are currently leading an SSHRC Insight Grant (2025-2029) exploring the role of urban planning in building a universal childcare system in BC and co-leading a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant (2026-2029) exploring strategies for scaling up social infrastructure in BC’s urban areas.
Website: Andi Binet | SCARP
Chris Lovato
Assistant Professor Emeritus, School of Population and Public Health
Chris Lovato is a Professor Emeritus in the UBC School of Population and Public Health and the founding director of the Faculty of Medicine’s Evaluation Studies Unit.
Her scholarship has focused on program evaluation, health promotion, population health, and medical education, with an emphasis on research that informs policy and decision-making.
During her career she has held several leadership roles at UBC including Vice-Dean, Academic, in the Faculty of Medicine. She has also collaborated with the UBC Learning Exchange on community-engaged evaluation and partnership development.
Website: Chris Lovato – School of Population and Public Health
Heather O’Brien
Professor, School of Information (iSchool)
Professor O’Brien’s teaching and research interests are in the areas of information seeking behaviour, information access, user engagement with digital technologies, and knowledge mobilization.
She was the recipient of the Research in Information Science Award (2022) for “outstanding contribution to information science research,” by the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) and the UBC Killam Faculty Research Prize (2024) for her career-spanning work on user engagement.
She has been a member of the Making Research Accessible Initiative (MRAi) Steering Committee since 2017, and led the Supporting Transparent & Open Research Engagement & Exchange (STOREE) Project, a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant (2018-2023). This project worked with partner organizations, including MRAi, to support access to research for non-academic community members and organizations, highlight the value of librarians in knowledge exchange, and improve university-community engagement.
Henry Yu
Professor, History, Faculty of Arts
Dr. Henry Yu is a trailblazing history professor at UBC whose career centers on dismantling the cultural legacies of colonialism and racism in Canada. A leading voice on Asian migration, his research bridges academia and public history through powerful collaborations with museums, community organizations, and government bodies.
Dr. Yu has played a critical role in shaping historic civic reckonings, serving as Co-Chair for British Columbia’s Legacy Initiatives Advisory Council and advising on the City of Vancouver’s formal 2018 apology for historic anti-Chinese discrimination. His foundational community work includes co-founding the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC and the Chinese Canadian Museum of BC.
An acclaimed author and curator, his co-curated exhibition, A Seat at the Table, won the 2022 Canadian Museums Association Outstanding Achievement Award. Recognized with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Dr. Yu continues to champion an inclusive, just Canadian society.
Website: Henry Yu – Department of History
José Rodríguez Núñez
Associate Professor of Teaching, Chemistry, Faculty of Science
Dr. José Rodríguez Núñez is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the UBC Department of Chemistry. Dedicated to advancing chemical education, his work focuses on developing innovative pedagogical tools and enhancing the undergraduate student experience.
His educational leadership centers on implementing innovative teaching and assessment practices in undergraduate chemistry education across two primary areas: the impact of laboratory work on student learning, and the integration of materials chemistry into the undergraduate curriculum. He has created new courses that highlight the relevance of chemistry in everyday applications and modernized laboratory teaching across the first- to third-year curriculum. His commitment to accessibility in science education is further reflected in the Accessible Lab Initiative, a tool he developed to help ESL students identify common chemistry glassware.
As Academic Director of the Science 101 program, Dr. Rodríguez Núñez leads an outreach initiative that brings students from the Downtown Eastside and surrounding communities to UBC, where they attend lectures, field trips, and tutorials to explore science and the role of the university in this endeavor.
In recognition of his contributions to university education and excellence in the classroom, he was awarded the UBC Killam Teaching Prize and the Margaret-Ann Armour Award for Early Career Chemistry Education.
Website: José Rodríguez Núñez | UBC Chemistry
Kayla Lar-Son
Head Librarian Xwi7xwa Library
Kayla Lar-Son is a Métis/Ukrainian librarian from Amiskwaciy and currently living on the traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples.
She holds a B.A. in Native Studies and a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS), both from the University of Alberta.
While at UBC, she has served the Indigenous Programs and Services Librarian for UBC Library and the Program Manager for Indigitization.
In spring of 2026, Kayla became the Head of Xwi7xwa Library.
Website: https://xwi7xwa.library.ubc.ca/
Kerry Greer
Associate Professor of Teaching, Sociology, Faculty of Arts
Dr. Kerry Greer is an Associate Professor of Teaching and the Undergraduate Chair in the UBC Department of Sociology.
Her academic work focuses primarily on environment and community, sociology pedagogy, and improving the undergraduate student experience.
She holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University, an M.S. from Portland State University, and a B.A. from the University of Portland. Through her dedicated teaching and leadership, Dr. Greer equips sociology students with critical skills for future careers, graduate programs, and societal contributions.
Tina Wilson
Assistant Professor, School of Social Work
Tina E. Wilson is an Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work at UBC. Broadly, she works within the history and philosophy of social work and social welfare, exploring how scientific and social movement knowledge interrelate and shape understandings of wellbeing, progress, and social justice.
Before entering the academy, Tina worked for about 15 years in community practice in Toronto, Canada, primarily as frontline staff in the homeless shelter system, in staff training and program evaluation, and in various forms of worker, network, and social movement organizing.